What is a WordPress theme and how to use it

Are you excited about your new WordPress website?

Of course you are! WordPress is a great choice for website design, and selecting a theme is one of the most important steps.

WordPress themes change how your website looks and makes your website stand out from the rest. WordPress themes allow you to customize your website’s appearance and give you the ability to control how you want your website to be seen by others.

The importance of WordPress themes in your website

Despite WordPress’ functionality, WordPress looks flavorless when you first install it, which is why you need a theme.

Moreover, the WordPress theme you choose should complement the content of your website. For example, if you are an architect, your website should feature a full screen slideshow that will allow you to showcase your designs.

Reasons to choose a great WordPress theme

Uniqueness

WordPress themes make your website attractive, giving it the touch it needs to stand out from your competition. Here’s the thing – chances are your website will be the first point of contact between you and your clients. So, what do you want to communicate to them? More importantly, what are you going to show them?

That is why your theme is so important. If you choose a well-developed theme, you’ll be able to communicate better. This will nudge your users to choose you over others!

Functionality

When choosing a theme, you must consider what plugins you will need for your website. Plugins make your website more functional and are considered as the building blocks of websites. Check this list of our top 10 WordPress plugins for website.

User experience

WordPress themes are built keeping customer usability in consideration. Your website should be so fluid that your users can browse without frustration. Users prefer a website with elements clearly defined. Themes ensure that the layout of your content is aesthetically pleasing, to attract users.

Updates

Developers of themes constantly update their themes with new trends. This ensures that your website will remain attractive over-time and does not lose its touch to others.

Time and money savings

Instead of hiring a web developer or web designer to create a custom WordPress theme for your WordPress website, using a free or paid WP theme will save you hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Speed and SEO

When it comes to themes, they can be differentiated in terms of speed, content, website’s stability and more. These factors affect SEO rankings to a great extent and can make a day and night difference in terms of your SEO rankings. When choosing a theme, make sure is fast, to provide a great user experience to your visitors. If you need help optimizing your website speed, we can help!

The difference between free and paid WordPress themes

Free WordPress themes

When we refer to free WordPress themes, we mean those themes which are included in the WordPress.org theme directory. Although you can search for themes throughout the web, WordPress has its own directory of free themes.  You can utilize these to get your website started. Moreover, themes offered by WordPress itself have been through a strict quality control process, so you don’t drive yourself crazy dealing with viruses.

The reason why some people opt for a free theme is the cost associated with it. These themes cost nothing, allowing you to save extra cash.

However, these themes might lack adequate support, preventing them from being future-proof. Moreover, the themes might not be what you need to stand out from others.

Premium WordPress themes

If free WordPress themes are not your cup of tea, you can opt for the costly route. There are multiple marketplaces where you can find and purchase themes. These themes come with their own plugins, which you can utilize to make your website more functional.

Purchasing premium themes can provide you with far more features than WordPress themes do and will allow you to customize your website in a multitude of ways. Now we’re talking!

Looking for WordPress Premium Themes? Click here

How to install a WordPress theme

There are three ways to install a WordPress theme. The first way is to install free WordPress themes; the second is to install themes you have purchased or downloaded from other websites and if your theme is robust and contains large files, you must upload it using FTP.

Method 1: Installing a theme from WordPress’ theme directory

If you are planning on installing a free WordPress theme from the WordPress themes directory, follow these steps:

1. To browse the directory, log in to your WordPress admin area, click on the Appearance >> Themes tab, and Add New.
2. Next, you can filter out the themes, or if you know what theme you want to use, you can search for its name.
3. When you have selected what theme you want, simply hover your mouse over the theme’s image. This will give you the option to install the theme.
4. WordPress will now install the theme, and to start using it, click on Activate.

Method 2: Uploading a theme from WordPress Admin

To install a theme that you purchased from the marketplace or a custom theme, you will have to follow these steps:

1. Click on the Appearance >> Themes tab in your WordPress Admin area.
2. Click on the Add New button on the top.
3. This will take you to the Add Themes page, where you’ll click on Upload Theme.
4. Click on Choose file and upload the theme.
5. Activate your theme by clicking on Activate

Method 3: Installing a WordPress theme with File-Transfer Protocol (FTP)

1. Download the FTP Client to your computer.
   1. This tool allows you to access and add or delete files on your website server.
2. Create an FTP account through your host provider.
3. Download your theme and unzip the file.
4. Find the root of your WordPress install within the FTP client, select Themes, and upload the folder you unzipped.
5. Activate the theme within your WordPress dashboard.

Voila, you are done!